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California Bus Crash Death Toll Revised from 5 to 4

Cydney Patterson4 months ago

On Wednesday, officials in Northern California revised the death toll of a fatal Route 99 bus crash from five to four.

Miscommunication Product of Chaotic Scene

California Highway Patrol spokesman Moises Onsurez said Tuesday’s incorrect tally was due to miscommunication between emergency personnel at the chaotic scene of the crash. Onsurez said that upon arriving at the scene, communication was hampered as responders struggled to identify injuries and assist passengers.

The bus, en route to Sacramento from Southern California on State Route 99, crashed into a pole which the sliced the bus from its front down to its middle. The accident occurred near the town of Livingston at about 3:30 a.m. PDT on Monday, officials said.

The Merced County Coroner’s Office identified the four dead as Jose Morales Bravo, 68; Fernando Ramirez, 57; Petra Carillo Ruiz, 64; and Jaime de los Santos, 38. Another update also stated that it was twenty-seven people aboard the bus and not thirty.

Highway Patrol officials said the cause of the crash was under investigation, and the National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team to probe the incident.

Bus Crash Statistics

In 2014, 3,978 large trucks and buses were involved in fatal crashes, marking a 5-percent decrease from 2013.

From 2013 to 2014, large truck and bus fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled by all motor vehicles decreased by 4 percent, from 0.143 to 0.138.

There was a 33-percent decrease in the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks or buses between 2004 and 2009, followed by an increase of 20 percent between 2009 and 2013.

From 2013 to 2014, the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks or buses decreased by 4.5 percent.

The number of injury crashes involving large trucks or buses decreased steadily from 95,000 in 2004 to 60,000 in 2009 (a decline of 37 percent). Unfortunately, this decline was followed by an increase of 55 percent from 2009 to 2014.

On average, from 2004 to 2014, intercity buses accounted for 13 percent of all buses involved in fatal accidents, and school buses and transit buses accounted for 41 percent and 33 percent, respectively.